Before you read a single word of the Analects, it is important to understand that the work comprises a collection of conversations and aphorisms rather than a manifesto. Each of its twenty books features multiple exchanges between multiple characters discussing multiple topics – much like a modern-day social media feed. There are no linear arguments based on carefully-marshaled facts that build up to a resounding conclusion. It is left to you, the reader, to pick through the various threads of the text and connect them to the others to build up your overall understanding of the teachings contained in it.Continue reading Analects of Confucius Book 1: Overview→

子路從而後，遇丈人，以杖荷蓧，子路問曰：「子見夫子乎？」丈人曰：「四體不勤，五穀不分，孰為夫子！」植其杖而芸。子路拱而立。止子路宿，殺雞為黍而食之，見其二子焉。明日，子路行以告。子曰：「隱者也。」使子路反見之。至，則行矣。子路曰：「不士無義，長幼之節，不可廢也。君臣之義，如之何其廢之？欲潔其身，而亂大倫。君子之仕也，行其義也，道之不行，已知之矣！」Zilu fell behind while traveling with Confucius. He met an old man who was carrying a basket hanging from his staff over his shoulder. Zilu asked him: “Have you seen my master?” The old man said: “You don’t toil with your four limbs, and you can’t even distinguish between the five types of grain. Who is your master?” He planted his staff in the ground and started weeding. Zilu stood respectfully, his hands clasped in front of him. The old man invited him to stay with him overnight, killed a chicken and cooked some millet for him to eat, and introduced his two sons to him. The next day, Zilu resumed his journey and reported to Confucius. Confucius said: “The man you met is a hermit.” He sent Zilu back to see the old man, but when he reached his place Zilu found that the old man had gone. Zilu said: “It is wrong to withdraw from public life. The codes that govern the rightful relationship between the old and young cannot be discarded. How can the rightful relationship between ruler and subject be discarded? You cannot disrupt the most basic human relationships just to preserve your purity. A leader takes office and performs his rightful duties even if he already knows that the Way will not prevail.”

This final allegorical tale warms up nicely with its lyrical opening scene – only to end on a false note in the final section. Zilu’s closing comments are way too harsh to ring true and have only the most tenuous of connections with the rest of the story. Indeed, it’s not even clear who Zilu is meant to be talking to at the end because in the previous section the old man had already disappeared. Continue reading A false note→

子路曰：「君子尚勇乎？」子曰：「君子義以為上。君子有勇而無義為亂，小人有勇而無義為盜。」Zilu said: “Does a leader prize courage?” Confucius said: “A leader prizes rightness above all else. A leader who is courageous but lacking in rightness could create chaos; a petty person who is courageous but lacking in rightness could become a bandit.”

孔子曰：「見善如不及，見不善而探湯，吾見其人矣，吾聞其語矣！隱居以求其志，行義以達其道，吾聞其語矣，未見其人也！」Confucius said: “‘Seeing good and pursuing it as if he was unable to reach it; seeing evil and recoiling from it as if he was scalded by boiling water’ – I have seen such people and I have heard such words said of them. ‘Living in seclusion to pursue his aspirations; doing what is right to attain the Way’ – I have heard such words, but I have never seen such people.”

It’s not clear what point Confucius is trying to make by quoting these two ancient sayings. With the second one, he may be taking a sarcastic crack at Daoist aesthetes who have retired to the hills in search of the path to enlightenment. To him, at least, escaping the everyday world no matter how depraved and corrupt it may be was exact the opposite of “doing what is right to attain the Way.”

孔子曰：「君子有九思：視思明，聽思聰，色思溫，貌思恭，言思忠，事思敬，疑思問，忿思難，見得思義。」Confucius said: “A leader focuses his thoughts in nine ways: when looking he focuses on seeing clearly; when listening he focuses on hearing properly; in his facial expression, he focuses on looking friendly; in his demeanor, he focuses on being respectful; in his speech, he focuses on sincerity; when at his duties, he focuses on being respectful; when he has doubts, he focuses on asking questions; when angry, he focuses on the negative consequences; when faced with an opportunity for profit, he focuses on rightness.”

I suppose that a list of nine makes a change from the lists of three that littered the earlier parts of Book 16. But even taking into account the conciseness of the classical Chinese text compared to the English, the list has for too many items for most people to remember. Continue reading Nine ways a leader focuses his thoughts→

子曰：「君子義以為質，禮以行之，孫以出之，信以成之，君子哉！」Confucius said: “A leader takes rightness as his essence, practices it in conformity with the rites, enacts it with humility, and faithfully brings it to fruition. This is how a leader behaves.”

子曰：「君子病無能焉，不病人之不己知也。」Confucius said: “A leader is distressed by his own lack of ability; he is never distressed at the failure of others to recognize him.”

子曰：「君子疾沒世而名不稱焉。」Confucius said: “A leader hates the thought of leaving this world without having made a name for himself.”

Rightness (義/yì) refers to having the moral disposition to do the right thing or act in the right way in any given situation. Alternative translations include “righteousness”, “propriety”, “morality”, “appropriateness”, and “what is right”. A large number of references to rightness can be found in the Analects. Continue reading Analects of Confucius: on rightness→